In last one and half decades, many corporate giants have entered into retailing and have successfully professionalized this business. Many international retailers have entered Indian market and many are about to enter to explore retailing opportunities.

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Interestingly, apart from a unique industry, retailing has been emerging as a discipline, a branch of study. In almost all B-Schools, many students specialize on retiling field every year. Even, primary and secondary schools have introduced retailing related topics in their curricula in one or other form. Now, retailing activities have transformed into promising business worldwide. Retail business occupies an important place in the world economy.

Retailing industry, accordingly to Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS), is growing at the rate of 5%. In year 2009, total turnover of retail industry in the world is estimated to be $12,104 billions. It is one of the major sources of employment, too. It enjoys 6% to 7% share in total employment in India and China.

In some developed countries, its contribution in total employment much higher than India. For example, share of retail in total employment in Brazil, U.S.A., Korea, and U.K. is 15%, 12%, 18%, and 11% respectively. Wal-Mart Stores is ranked first in terms of revenues ($ 287989 millions, 2004), and number of employees (1700000 employees in 2005) among leading multinational retailers across the globe.

Indian retailing system exhibits considerable variety. We find giant shopping malls and a small retail shops operating simultaneously in nearby area. Interestingly, some small sole proprietary retailers are competing successfully with retail corporate giants in neighboring areas.

Medium and large departmental stores also operate in retailing field amidst many small retailers and a few corporate retailers. In the same way, service sector retailing business is also booming. Most service sectors, including banking, stock markets and securities, insurance, healthcare, communication, tour and travels, hotel and restaurants, and so forth, have started concentrating their attention on effective retailing to survive and grow.

Retail Sector is the most booming sector in the Indian economy. Some of the biggest players of the world are going to enter the industry soon. It is on the threshold of bringing the next big revolution after the IT sector. Retail market is expected to grow manifolds by the year 2010. The sector contributes 10% of the GDP, and is estimated to show 20% annual growth rate by the end of the decade as against the current growth rate of 8.5%.

Growth of Retail Companies in India is still not yet in a matured stage with great potentials within this sector still to be explored. Apart from the retail company like Nilgiri’s of Bangalore, most of the retail companies are the sections of other industries that have stepped in the retail sector for a better business.

The growth of retail companies in India is most pronounced in the metro cities of India; however, the smaller towns are also not lagging behind in this regard. The retail companies are not only targeting a few metros in India, but also are considering the second graded upcoming cities like Ahmedabad, Baroda, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Cochin, Ludhiana, Pune, Trivandrum, Shimla, Gurgaon, and others. The South Indian zone have adopted the process of shopping in the supermarkets for their daily requirements and this has also been influencing other cities as well where many hypermarkets are coming up.

The retail companies are found to be rising in India at a remarkable speed with the years and this has brought a revolutionary change in the shopping attitude of the Indian customers.

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The growth of retail companies in India is facilitated by certain factors, like:

i. Existing Indian middle classes with an increased purchasing power

ii. Rise of upcoming business sectors like the IT and engineering firms

iii. Change in the taste and attitude of the Indians

iv. Effect of globalization

v. Heavy influx of FDI in the retail sectors in India

Some studies conducted by reputed groups have made following prediction:

i. At present, the industry is estimated to be at more than US$ 400 billion by a study of McKinsey.

ii. The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) estimates the retail market in India will increase to US$608.9 billion in 2009 from US$394 billion in 2005.

iii. KPMG Report says that the organized retail would grow at a higher rate than the GDP in the next five years.

iv. The retail sector would generate employment for more than 2.5 million people by the year 2010, as predicted by Ma Foi Management Consultants Ltd.

Major Players in Retail Industry: Major leading Indian companies in retail business include:

Archies, Bata India Ltd, Big Bazaar, Crossword, Ebony Retail Holdings Ltd., Fabmall, Food Bazaar, Globus Stores Pvt. Ltd., Health and Glow, Liberty Shoes Ltd., MTR Foods Ltd., Music World Entertainment Ltd., Pantaloon Retail India Ltd., Shoppers Stop, Style SPA Furniture Ltd., Subhiksha, Tital Industries, Lifestyle, etc. New entrants entering the market soon will be Reliance Retail Ltd, Wal-Mart Stores, Carrefour, Tesco, Boots Group, etc..

-ASWATHY BALACHANDRAN

Malayalam film industry is one of the leading and highly competitive film industry in the south india. Comparing to telungu,kannada and tamil Malayalam film industry is acquiring huge prestige and fame in all india.

In the earlier days,The stories are the main factor which determines the success of a movie. But today the viewers consider not only the story but also the actors who are starring and the technological element that consists in the film. If the story element is weak but when it’s technological part is strong,the movie will get an average rating because of the effect of technology. Gradually these technologies decides the budget of the film. We can see there is a huge change is happening in the Malayalam film industry. Today there is a bunch of big buget movies are rising in the movie horizon. A Bollywood type of movies are approaching in malyalam film industry. Also the viewers are expecting that kinds of film from our film technicians.

For example odiyan ,kayamkulam kochunni,pulimurugan etc were the recently released big buget movies. There are also a heap of upcoming big budget movies are approaching named kaliyan,kakunjlimarakkar,randamoozham. The maximum budget for these movies are more than 1000 crores. The first big budget movie in the Malayalam film industry is “padayottam” starred by nazir and the budget for this movie was approximately 25 lakhs. But today a big budget movie needs minimum more than 100 crores. The mesmerising technologies that are used in the films are the Main cause for these high buget. The rising technological parts in movie will also increases the expectations of the viewers. People will expects more from these kinds of movies other than the small budget movies.

By this we can simply makeout the one of the main factor which plays beyond the budget is the technological aspects. The other remaining factor are the level of technicians who are working in the film. We can also see a tight and strong competition between Bollywood and mollywood. The type which a big budget movie in mollywood appears is more or less same to the Bollywood.

Here we can undoubtedly say that the Malayalam film industry is rising into it’s peak level. This is the golden age of mollywood. The efforts of many technicians,usage of high level technology, successful stories are the backbone of our films and rising a fame in national level. Defenetily this rising will cracks the records of Bollywood film industry and Malayalam film industry will become the one of the incompetent film makers in the Indian film history.

Sources:Wikipedia,film magazine

Submitted by

Nayana Jinendran

B.a economics

“The autonomy of the Central Bank within the framework of RBI Act is an essential and accepted requirement”. This statement was made by the government amid the speculations regarding the RBI Governor, Urjit Patel’s resignation. Unlike the Central Bank of U. S, The Federal Reserve, The Central Bank of India (RBI) apparently cannot have the sole authority in taking its decisions. The government can give directions to the bank which after consultation with the Governor of the bank may consider if necessary in the public interest from time to time.

Recently, The Government of India had asked RBI for a review of its ‘Economic Capital Framework’ adopted in 2016 and the board had decided to constitute a committee for the study of the terms which were jointly determined by the government and RBI. With the government’s decision that it will continue to raise issues of public interest and economy with the Central Bank, there seems to be a rife in hostility between both the institutions. The government had invoked the powers which was never used before, under the RBI Act to issue directions to the central bank.

“If the sovereign government is pointing out that there are credit and liquidity issues in the country, how can it be infringing the autonomy”- Arun Jaitley

Apparently, the crux of the situation is that the Modi-led government appears to be trying to weaken or erode the functional autonomy of RBI by imposing its authority in decision making and in giving advices and making consultations with the RBI over a range of areas including an attempt to extract some of its “excess reserves” and use them to fill up the government’s wallet.

The demonetisation saw the kick start for the concern about the autonomy and the institutional integrity of RBI which was being questioned with the government’s authoritative role play in policy decisions. Post the event of demonetisation, there had been allegations that the government’s interference had been impinging on RBI autonomy.

In a democracy, the final responsibilities of all decision making must lie with the government. Therefore, the RBI and the central government must have a mutual coordination and cooperation in public interests and they should be in harmony and work hand in hand.

Sources: http://www.insightsonindia.com & pib.nic.in

-CATHERINE R JUDITH

Today, nearly 5 million women are a part of Kudumbashree, making it the world’s largest women empowerment project. And all this in a state one-tenth the size of California.

‘Kudumbashree’-which literally means family woman started off as a poverty alleviation scheme in 1998 with the intention of eradicating absolute poverty in the state of Kerala in a ten-year-period.For some,it is the poverty eradication project.Some other view it as an exclusive domain of women engaged in social work.Yet in some others,the term Kudumbashree evokes the image of the women in uniform who come to collect waste from their door steps.For several people,Kudumbashree is like a blessing;a God-send.It appears as food to the hungry,as medicine to the sick,as a helping hand to the ailing.

“More than anything,it has liberated women to get out of the house and go to work.In a traditionally male-dominated society,women participating in the polity,going to vocational training programmes and starting small businesses was not the norm.Kudumbashree helped change this.”,says K.J.Sohan,former mayor of Kochi.

Brick by Brick

In a small,tucked away village in Kerala stands a 475-square feet house which is known across the region not because of who owns it but because of those who built it.This is where Kudumbashree comes in.The 20-member all-women group Nirmanashree constructions,is challenging building-industry stereotypes and have broken the glass ceiling in a male-dominated sector.

Coconut climbing made easier

Women,who were once relegated to society’s backwaters,are now scaling new heights. Many women in the district now earn up to Rs.650 a day by climbing coconut trees-something no one would have imagined possible just a few decades ago.

Success in numbers

Be it higher education,starting of small-scale businesses or even in healthcare,Kudumbashree women have been able to grasp their opportunities to work in various fields.Some 2,50,000 Kudumbashree women throughout Kerala have come together to form collectives which jointly engage in agriculture.

Sources:https://m.economictimes.com https://www.wikipedia.com

-By V.R.VEDA

“The developing infrastructure in India makes it possible for transporters to reap the benefit of trucks with higher power,speed and carrying capacity.The new range from Tata Motors will meet those needs.It will also help us penetrate international markets more effectively and competitively”

Sri Ratan Tata

The Indian Automobile Industry is now one of the largest in the world and has surpassed Germany to be the fourth largest automobile market on a global scale to stand right behind China, the US and Japan.

The industry produced a total of 2,38,61,485 vehicles including passenger vehicles, commercial vehicles, three wheelers, two wheelers and quadricycle in April-December 2018 as against 2,14,32,030 in April-December 2017, registering a growth of 11.34 percent over the same period last year. The sale of passenger vehicles grew by 4.37 percent in April-December 2018 and it is further expected to increase to 10 million by FY20. The overall commercial vehicles segment registered a growth of 25.86 percent in April-December 2018 as compared to the same period last year. The growth rate of Medium and Heavy Commercial Vehicles (M&HCVs) increased by 24.69 percent, light commercial vehicles by 26.60 percent, three wheeler sales by 18.85 percent and the two-wheeler sales registered growth at 9.59 percent in April-December 2018 to the corresponding period in the previous year. In April-December 2018, overall automobile exports grew by 18.53 percent. While passenger vehicles exports declined by (-)8.47 percent, commercial vehicles, three wheeler vehicles and two wheeler registered a growth of 10.99 percent,51.45 percent and 21.45 percent respectively in April-December 2018 over the same period last year.

The Two-Wheelers sector dominated, by about 81 percent, the total domestic automobile sales and has reported an 11.1 percent growth compared to previous period. This growth is despite several adverse events during the period including increase in insurance premium across the country, the floods in Kerala in August 2018 and the regulatory changes made in West Bengal necessitating two-wheelers sale only to valid licence holders in July 2018.According to a report published by KPMG, ”India’s vehicle demand is quite different from other top automobile markets-with the exception of China-in that Two-Wheelers constitute a significant portion of vehicle demand(more than 3/4^th of Indian market is in Two-Wheelers).”

This increased demand in the automobile industry and the Two-Wheeler sector in particular, can be attributed to increase in rural income, rapid urbanisation , favourable demographic profile, growing middle class and increasing participation of women in workforce. Moreover, the industry is now witnessing a boost in investment. The FDI (Foreign Direct Investment) inflow in the automobile sector worth $19.29 billion between April 2000-June 2018 .India also has significant cost advantage that attracts investments in the sector.  

This continued growth of the industry is due to the policy supports extended by the Government of India. The government now aims to develop India as a global manufacturing centre as well as a Research and Development (R&D) hub. It has set up National Automotive Testing and R&D Infrastructure Project (NATRiP) centres as well as a  National Automotive Board to act as facilitator between the government and the industry. The Indian government has also set up an ambitious target of having only electric vehicles being sold in the country. The Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India has shortlisted 11 cities in the country for introduction of electric vehicles (EVs) in their public transport systems under FAME (Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of (Hybrid) and Electric Vehicles in India) scheme.

The automobile industry has yet to fully tap into demand from rural areas. Previously, consumers from these areas would need to go to automobile dealerships in towns and cities for their vehicle purchases. However, in recent years, market players have made overtures to rural consumers, with encouraging sales. While the Indian automobile industry seeks to double total sales on the back of steady growth over the next decade, these relatively under tapped demand segments (rural markets, youth, women and luxury cars) are expected to play a significant role.  

Sources:-SIAM India, IBEF and KPMG Report

-Teenu Lucy Sebastian

When one thinks of Indian food,it is spices that stand as one of the most distinctive features.India is a leading producer and exporter of spices and agro food products.The innovative use of spices globally has increased their demands.Kerala is one such home to variety of spices including pepper,cardamom,clove,cinnamon and many more.

  The spices of Kerala dates back to thousands of years in the  history of the state.Kerala continues to be a major contributor to the international spice trade over the last decade and the volume of spice trade from Kerala stands at a remarkable 5,00,000 tons prized at nearly $1500 million.Good marketing strategy,developments in processing and packaging techniques have favoured the growth of spices.The climate of Kerala has been ideal for the cultivation of wide variety of rich spices that makes it hold much popularity in the international market.Trade of spices play a significant role in Kerala’s economy due to its large consumption in both domestic as well as global markets.Kerala thus is called the “Land of Spices” gifting rest of the world:flavour,fragrance  and colour for many centuries. 

Even though 90% of production of black pepper ad 70% of cardamom in the country is restricted to Kerala,the trade is now handicapped with  number of problems.According to recent study the 2018 flood have  made a big dent in the spice economy of the state with total production loss estimated to be around Rs1254cr.Black pepper is estimated to see a production loss of 10700 tonnes in the year 2018-19 causing a loss of Rs402cr.The crop loss in pepper has been estimated at 31% with 26614 hectares affected in the monsoon havoc.While in production of cardamom is estimated to dip by 6600 tonnes causing a loss of Rs679cr with a crop loss around 38.5%.The survey also found that unprecedented rain induced natural calamity has also caused spike in infection in pepper,cardamom and nutmeg samples.

This has led to price of cardamom to surge by around fourth since early August.Prices of all spices from Kerala have gone up to 100% in the past few days.This has increased costs for retailers.But the demand from end customers has not gone down.The price of small green cardamoms has increased by Rs 200 to Rs 1800 per kg.Black pepper has become costlier by Rs 100 to Rs 500 per kg.Apart from these main spices the flood has also hit tea and rubber production.

In conclusion,researchers say that spices will emerge as Rs18 billion industry by 2020 and share of India will be around $5 billion.Highlighting role of farmers in conserving and identifying spices,22 cardamom varieties have been identified.Also the Spice Board Of India has been working towards the development of worldwide promotion of spices.While in Kerala,the International Spice Conference has aimed for descriptive innovation of sustainable growth in spie sector.The conference expects to give Kerala as the host state a definite edge in acquiring innovations in spice sector as also a direct attention of global spice markets.        

Devika CN

Organic farming is an alternative agricultural system which originated early in the 20th century in reaction to rapidly changing farming practices. Organic farming continues to be developed by various organic agriculture organizations today. Since 1990 the market for organic food and other products has grown rapidly reaching £63 billion worldwide in 2015.

Organic farming in India is very old and is being followed from ancient time. It is a method of farming system which primarily aimed at cultivating the land and raising crops to keep the soil alive and in good health by use of organic wastes and other biological materials.

India has a lot of potential in this field. Organic farming started as a small farm agriculture system with operations also being on farms less than 1 acre in size. For farms under 10 acre in size, farming is mostly labor intensive and requires lesser mechanisation. Also organic farming tends to reduce costs as it removes the extra cost of synthetic fertilizers used in conventional farming methods. As the organic food movement has grown, it’s drawn support from the media, the government, political organisations and many other groups has increased.

The most beautiful state in southern India is Kerala and is known for its organic farming. At present organic farming is done in 2600 hectares in the three districts of Wayanad, Idukki and Kasargod. The researchers found that organic farming is somewhere between 22% and 35% and more profitable for farmers than conventional. It’s not only profitable but also eco-friendly. In this we use only biodegradable materials and thus money can be saved. Also, everything that is used as input is natural and does not have any harm on nature and mankind.

Investment is subjective and depends on a lot of factors .Hence, investment is very less in organic farming. But the production is less compared to Normal Farming. But the market price for organic products is high compared to normal products. Nowadays, in cities, people have started consuming organic products. Organic farming is profitable when it have demand and for that there should be proper market and supply.

India is home to 30% of the total organic producers in the world, but accounts for just 2.59% of the total organic cultivation area of 57.8 million hectares, according to the World of Organic Agriculture 2018 report.

India has the highest number of organic farmers globally but most of them are struggling. Farmers also complained of low productivity during the transition from conventional chemical farming to Organic Agriculture.

There are various schemes undertaken by government to promote organic farming in India; National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF) , National Horticulture Mission (NHM) etc. Organic products give parents a healthy choice when it comes to children’s nutrition . There are many benefits of choosing organic food and products. These include higher levels of antioxidants than conventional foods as well as less or absence of harmful chemicals and preservatives.

Hence we can conclude that organic products are the best from nature and the best for nature.

Sources: Wikipedia, Economic Times, The New Indian Express

-Alka Mereen Shiju

According to International Data Corporations (IDC) Quarterly mobile phone tracker,the Indian smartphone market saw a shipment of 30.0 million units in 2018 Q1 ,making it the strongest start to a year and maintaining a healthy year on year growth of 11%. However the market remind almost flat compared to the previous quarter 2017Q4.

Xiaomi maintained its lead in the market for a second quarter in a row with further expansion in the offline channel and popularity of its model such as redfin 5A and Redmi note5.Various companies, used an online channel to expand their share in the market,notable amongst those being honor ivoomi and tenor(10.0)this lead to share growth of online channel within smartphone market from to 34.2%in 2018 Q4 to 36.0%in 2018 Q1. Xiaomi increased its share of total e tailor shipments  from 32% a year ago 253%in 2018 Q1. “Xiaomi is a unique  position with a diversified channel approach  and strong demand in each of channels.Haawa’s honor 9 Lite also made into the top 5 online  model in its debut quarter 2018Q1”,says Jaipal Singh senior market analyst, IDC India.

On the offline friend,transsion continued to drive growth through its brand Intel and Tecno by expanding aggressively to smaller towns and cities by focusing on channel market and after sale service.

Sources: Google

-Liya shajan

KSUM (Kerala Startup Mission) launched by Government of Kerala has promoted 99 startups and provided Rs 4.8 crore as grants . KSUM was launched in 2006 by the government to promote technology and innovation based entrepreneurship.Entrepreneurs are some of the major contributors to the economy of any country and an economy’s development can be easily predicted by the entrepreneurial activities taking place there.The case of kerala is no different.The entrepreneurship development in the state has high potential for improving the regional economy. To increase economic growth and welcome new entrepreneurs, the Government of Kerala launched KSUM. KSUM has most successfully taken forward this vision of the government and brought in many entrepreneurs through the years.

Successful entrepreneurs are looking for a place where they can find skilled workers and get their work done at a lower cost, which now Kerala provides to a very large extend due to its evolving startup structure which was built by KSUM. KSUM CEO Mr.Saji Gopinath says that “at least 20 companies would have returned to kerala in past few months.
It is either Keralites coming back to the state after starting in other cities or successful Keralite founders starting second companies after having their first ventures in other cities”. Mr.Gopinath names this as ‘reverse migration’ of entrepreneurs which will ultimately support startups, infrastructure and fund setups in the state.

‘LULU Group International’ of M.A.Yusuff Ali which is very popular among malayalees because of LULU Mall ,kochi is a hypermarket chain and retail company .The company has managed to draw worldwide attention by its spectacular malls,hypermarkets and other customer care services. M.A.Yusuff Ali who hails from thrissur district in kerala started this company in 2000 with its headquarters in Abudhabi. Now this company has a total of 159 stores in various countries across continents. LULU Group has invested Rs.2400 crore into Kerala’s IT sector to develop 50 lakh sq.ft space by 2021,this also adds to promotion of IT infrastructure in Kerala. This investment will bring up the state’s economy as it will definitely create more job options for people. Like M.A.Yusuff Ali there are many more entrepreneurs who started their business either in kerala or outside kerala and then later established it. Some of them being P.N.C.Menon (SOBHA ltd), Kalyanaraman (Kalyan group), M.C.George (Muthoot), Byju Raveendran (BYJU’S), Dr.Shrikant Bhasi (Carnival group), Kochouseph Chittilappilly (V-Gaurd). Most of these entrepreneurs come from ordinary households and developed their brand value through years of hard work.

Entrepreneurial sector in kerala has seen a drastic development in the past few years and this is expected to rise.Increasing entrepreneurial culture and infrastructural support for innovators will definitely attract people’s attention into kerala.The Government of Kerala is planning to come up with larger funds for supporting and stabilizing this ecosystem which would attract more entrepreneurs ,thus leading to further economic development of the state .

SOURCES: Wikipedia, Business Standard , New Indian Express, Economic Times

-Poornima.S.Menon

Devastating flood that Kerala had confronted in August 2018 made a loss about 31,000  crores according to the UN report. A preliminary assessment by World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) found out that the loss was about 25,046 crores. This record doesn’t include the damage caused in industry and trade. Agricultural sector faced the worst hit due to flood. About 57,000 hectares of agricultural land was destroyed. As reported by World Bank, the loss in agricultural sector is about 2,093 crores. According to APK (Association of planters of Kerala) the plantation industry lost around 5  to 7  billions. The rubber cultivation in Kerala which constitutes 92% of total Rubber in India which is the sixth largest producer of rubber is likely to fall about 15 % to 6 lakh tonnes in 2018-19. G.Chokkalingam,founder of Equinomics research and advisory said that,even though the impact of flood on industrial activities are very limited, there will be a temporary impact on companies which are dependent on copra and Rubber. 

Considering other sectors, the tourism sector was affected in a large scale. It had a loss of 2,100 crores in infrastructure and business. Government tourism properties itself had a damage of 8,200 crores.The Cochin Airport, the busiest and largest airport in Kerala had a loss of 220 crores. The transportation sector alone had a total loss of about 10,046 crores. Almost 7647 crores are required for rebuilding roads and 910 crores are required for rebuilding national highways. The flood caused a loss of RS 820 crores to the KSEB infrastructure. Avinash Gorakshar of  Joindre capital tweeted that companies which are likely to be impacted due to Kerala floods are banks including South Indian bank and Federal Bank which account for 40 to 45 percentage of the business from Kerala.

Apart from this, Kerala floods also affected the business communities in Tamilnadu. The subsequent cancellation of Onam celebration has hit the business communities in Tamilnadu hardly, especially the flower trader there. The flower traders at thovalai flower market in Kanyakumari district that sell flowers across Kerala brought much lesser than their usual purchase for Onam. The flower purchase on 2017 Onam season was 150 tonnes which lowered to 30 tonnes in 2018. According to Rudra SenSarma professor of Economics at IIM Kozhikode, the fall in consumer purchases during Onam period is going to inflict heavy costs on Economy.

To overcome all these issues the Kerala government along with other countries has organised many projects to rebuild and revive back all the losses faced by Kerala during the flood like, Rebuild Kerala, Navakeralam and many other fundraising programs and activities. In the opinion of Rudra Sen Sarma this crisis can be a perverse opportunity for the state to transform itself to a more resilient economy with stronger finances and better disaster management capabilities.

Sources:

Economic Times ,Indian Express, Business standard,The News Minute,Google

-Mary Chanchal